Smoking a cigarette, Jack was sitting up in bed. The blue smoke swirled to the ceiling as the weak morning light shone through the dirty window of his small bedroom. The ransom money was safely locked away in the safe, ready to return to the Hanson family. So far his investigation had given him plenty of clues, but not one sign that Lawrence was still in Washington. It was beginning to look more likely that he was dead or had slipped out of the city undetected.
“Ezra,” he called out, “Come on in here if you’re awake.”
There was a sound of footsteps and his partner stumbled in, yawning and rubbing his stubbly chin. “What’s going on, Jack? I was just about to fix some breakfast for us. Last night was a long one.”
“I know it was. I can feel the years after a night like that. But tell me, after what we learned last night, what do you think of our case so far?”
His partner leaned against the doorway with his head furrowed in thought. “Well, Stevenson and Abbott are our main suspects now – everything I’ve seen and heard points to them being involved. If Brinker was telling us the truth, then I don’t see who else it could be.”
“You are right. First, Abbott tried to silence us by buying us out.” Jack said.
“I almost forgot about that,” Ezra interrupted. “He might want to be a high-class gentleman by where he lives and the way he talks, but his attempt to bribe us shows he’s not who he pretends to be.”
Jack nodded, eager to continue his train of thought. “Then after I talked to Tinen, I was waylaid by those thugs.”
Ezra cleared his throat. “Most likely some of Abbott’s or Stevenson’s henchmen, sent to do the dirty work.”
Jack nodded back a quick agreement. “But when that plan failed, they ended up killing Tinen to keep him quiet. And looking at his book, he was being paid off for his silence. They obviously didn’t trust him, so they had to get rid of him in the fear that he would tell me what he knew.”
“It’s too bad we had to waste our time with Brinker,” Ezra said with a frown. “He was trying to make a fast dollar off of our troubles.”
“True, but at least we know that lead is really a dead one,” Jack replied. “And we confirmed, thanks to Brinker, that Lewis Abbott was in fact seen with Lawrence at the saloon. With Abbott’s past, that makes him the most likely person to know what happened to our missing man. If we can question Abbot further and get the truth, then we can put an end to this case.”
Ezra turned and started to walk towards the kitchen. “I’ll whip us up a quick meal, and then let’s find out.”
“Good, I’ll come and help.” Jack stood up, splashed his face with water from the basin on the dresser, and began to dress in his best suit. He then rubbed the dirt off his shoes and straightened his cravat. He looked in the mirror and pushed the longer dark hair over his graying temples.
Later, as they ate breakfast, Jack spoke to Ezra. “I had better go see Faith Hanson before we go any further. She’s probably sick with worry, wondering what happened last night. Too bad we couldn’t make good and deliver her brother.”
Ezra looked up from his eggs and spoke quietly, “I think you’re more worried about her than you are about her brother.” He gave a faint laugh and continued concentrating on his plate.
He sat back on his chair and looked at his friend. Ezra could be dangerously insightful at times, and Jack really wasn’t in the mood to discuss Faith right now. “Now where did you get that idea from?”
His partner looked up again and gave a small laugh. “I haven’t seen you dress that nicely since I don’t know when. You’ve been living in this apartment too long. You’re getting lonely for a woman in your life. Every man does eventually.”
Jack shook his head. “Ezra, you’re imagining things. If I want to find a woman, I’ll go out to the brothel and pay her for the night.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Jack tried in vain to convince his friend that his attention was elsewhere. “Well, I don’t think Faith Hanson is going to be leaving her rich father for an old detective who can barely make ends meet.” He gestured, his hand taking in the room around them. “I mean, you’ve been to their house with me. She’s used to a rich life and what can I offer her - a room above a tailor’s shop?”
Ezra looked at his friend with pity. “She does seem to be taken with you. She’s been trapped in that house for a long time and I wouldn’t be surprised if she would do almost anything to get out of there. You know when a woman gets to be her age, they are afraid of becoming old maids. Either you or Davis are her last chance.”
“Ezra, you are incurable romantic. Why are you so worried about me?”
The black man merely shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat.
Jack had had enough of the conversation and stood up from the table. “I’ll get the ransom money out of the safe,” he said. “When you’re finished, let’s go.”